Located in the southeastern part of
Ohio,
Wayne
National Forest public hunting land is ideal for hunting deer and turkey. It consists of over a quarter million acres of rugged hills, open fields and hardwood forests which are spread out over several counties. Whitetail deer and eastern wild turkeys can be located throughout
Wayne
National Forest, especially where food is plentiful. Food sources in and around the forest for deerinclude bush, acorns, crab apples and occasional farm crops.
Turkeys eat almost anything including bugs, berries, wild grapes and beach nuts.Water is available from streams, beaver ponds and small lakes.Hunting pressure can be high in some of the easily accessible locations.For hunting turkeys, you will be more successful if you pick an area with few hunters. Hunting deer is a different story. If you are looking to just kill a deer and not concerned about a large rack, this can work in your favor since the hunters keep the deer moving. If you are a big trophy deer hunter and willing to walk deeper into the forest, you can locate a site with little competition due to the vast amount of forest. Carrying a GPS is a good idea since one can get easily lost in
Wayne
National Forest and walk a long ways in some places before reaching a road. When selecting a deer hunting spot, you may want to consider how you would get a deer out once killed.
Ohio whitetail deer can grow to be quit large.Dragging a deer can be difficult in rough terrain and use of an ATV is usually not allowed within the forest. While not useable by vehicles, fire and oil well roads make walking into the forest easier in some locations.A map is needed to ensure you don’t walk onto private property while hunting in
Wayne
National Forest since there are patches of private land bordering the forest. Camping is allowed in pull-offs along dirt roads throughout most of the forest which makes for an ideal wilderness adventure. Specifics can be viewed at the Wayne National Forest Hunting and the Wayne National Forest Deer Hunting websites. Topographic maps can be ordered from the USDA Forest Service.